Waikato/ Bay of Plenty regional director Harry Wilson said the port had given itself an "absolute competitive advantage" by widening the channel in preparation for bigger ships.
The decision to invest in PrimePort Timaru was another coup.
The Bay of Plenty councils had also collectively given approval to use 50 max vehicles on its network - the first in New Zealand to adopt the initiative. It focused on increasing the amount of freight carried on trucks and pushing up productivity.
"There are two things you can do to get exports to the port reliably and efficiently," Mr Wilson said. "New Zealand goods are quite price sensitive overseas and a couple of cents on the supermarket shelves makes a difference.
"If you want to get goods from A to B you can make sure your roads or rail works are not congested ... and when it reaches capacity you can build more like Tauranga."
However, often it was cheaper to lift the productivity of the vehicles, he said.
"They can carry more than the standard 44-tonne truck and up to 62 tonnes.
"There are more axles that spreads the load and in terms of impact on the roads it can be less or the same as a 44-tonne truck."
The biggest problem that faced Tauranga over the past 12 months was the weather.
"State Highway 29 has been closed to rock falls, accidents and slips which often occur after long dry periods when it rains and the road becomes slippery."
It was a costly exercise cleaning up when that happened and ultimately the motorist paid.
NZTA was also talking to Tauranga City Council Mayor Stuart Crosby about Route K.
"We are already in an agreement with Tauranga on a preferred solution with Route K," Mr Wilson said. "Now we have to persuade Treasury and all the government departments."
